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Auto Express reports Audi is now considering an even more high-end A8 iteration to compete with the $169,050 Mercedes-Maybach S600 luxury sedan. Audi — a brand once headed by current Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen — has found noted sales growth in the U.S. market these days, thanks to a current portfolio of hot-selling crossovers and luxury sedans. Certainly, the profits from these sales could provide funds for such a project.

“The success of the extra-long version of the S-Class has got us wondering about whether there could be a business case for [a more luxurious A8] in the future,” Audi technical chief Stefan Knirsch stated in the report. Of course, Audi’s parent company Volkswagen Automotive Group also owns Bentley, which has a direct rival to the Mercedes-Maybach S600 with the $200,000+ Bentley Flying Spur, and even the $300,000+ Mulsanne.

On the flip side, Cadillac has a budding portfolio made up of one full-size SUV (Escalade), a single crossover (XT5 to replace the SRX) and a handful of sedans. While Cadillac puts additional CUVs on the fast-track, projects like a range-topping flagship sedan that could anchor the brand have gone by the wayside.

We hope one day Cadillac finds it in itself to build a flagship sedan, knowing its legacy rests in them.

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23 Comments

Of course there’s a market for a big saloon, there always will be & it demonstrates what latest tech can be done by the maker. Everyone is putting all their eggs in the SUV craze, what happens when the bubble bursts? I recon it will & I recon big saloons & small saloons will be back in again. I guess time will tell.

Bottom line is this, if Cadillac indeed pulled the plug(which I doubt they did considering all we have is rumers and innuendos) then Cadillac will never be a Benz or BMW competitor, they will be nothing more then a slight step up from Lincoln. Cadillac knew what they were doing from the start when they trademarked CT2 to 8, they had the plan, they brought out the CT6 as a mid level flagship, and they have the funds to do it.

This is not GMC or Chevy which is where your typical average soccer mom family’s come and get vehicles, this is supposed to be a premium brand, a brand that doctors, lawyers and celebs buy into. It should be a brand that unless you make at least $70 grand a year the name Cadillac should not even be in your vocabulary. Yes they need a couple CUVs and maybe one more SUV, but to cancel out a big ultra mega flagship in the name of putting a bunch of ugly crossovers and SUVs in is ludicrous. But regardless of what is being said by GM Authority and others, I truly believe the car is still a go. Take for instance the fact Cadillac has not said one word about the CT8 being cancelled nor confirmed. Just recently the rumer was spitting out the fact that the small upcoming Cadillac will be using a FWD Cruze platform. Did you see how quick the Cadillac PR department shot that down and said those were false,, I rest my case.

Also consider that it would be financially irresponsible for Cadillac to spend so much money developing Omega only to put 1 model (CT6) on that platform.
To justify the costs there has to be more coming.

Well first off we do not know all the facts and story here. But we do know some information that will make sense of this.

#1 sedan sales are down. Yes they still sell but market growth is capped and on the decline.

#2 SUV and CUV sales are all on the rise and really have set a priority for growing sales in companies.

#3 We know that Cadillac has a lot to do right now and has to decide where will they grow more market share and where they will make larger profits and that is in the SUV market.

#4 With that said we will still see a larger car than the CT6 at some point but GM has to go where the market is. If they forgo some of these SUV models they are now preparing for a Large expensive sedan that struggles many here would be crying they should have gone to the SUV segment first.

I would love to see a sedan as much as anyone but I also understand the market conditions and what GM needs to do. We may not all like em but the SUV models are where the money is and just because you build a large expensive sedan that is not a lock you will sell many and make much money.

The revamp of the 3 sedans we have going on now should help grow the brand along with the SUV models. Once Cadillac gains more image and status a larger sedan would have a better chance of doing well.

The fact is you get a lot of happy SUV customers they may consider your cars too at some point but till then you take their money with a expensive SUV.

I suspect the CT8 is just delayed for more profitable and less ridden ventures for now.

IMHO, I have a perception, that, speaking of sedans, generally, neither Lincoln with their new Continental nor Cadillac with CT6 or Chrysler with their 300C, are trying to compete in top-luxury sedan segment, where S class, 7 series and A8 reside.
Instead, Americans these days just deliberately settle around E class, 5 series and A6, and don’t really bother aiming higher.
I’m not saying it’s necessarily bad, it’s just the state of things now, not much else to say here.

At the same time, Japanese luxury makes don’t compete really strong in top luxury sedans either:
Lexus’s LS was not totally updated since 2007, and is not a dream car anymore, Acura’s RLX is a niche car and a small seller, and Infiniti’s Q70(L) is also not quite a match to German top sedans as well.
So, these days, it looks like Germans rule the top sedan segment and prosper there (and even higher, in the Ultra Luxury, Rolls and Bentley also belong to Germans).
Having said that, I’m personally not a fan of German cars, unlikely to ever have one, and now driving a GM’s Buick

There will be a new A8 soon, bmw 9, jaguar xj, new lexus, panamera etc… Im not talking about the s class…
New e class is out, the new 5 cant come soon enough. +New a6, a7, cls , continental gt etc..
Sedans are still here and will be. So stop bs about the sedans are dying blah blah. This is a bad excuse.
The reality is that cadillac is deep in the ass. Before they show AT LEAST a ONE real good PRODUCT, the rest brands will show 30..
Ats is dated and boring, cts is dated and boring, ct6 is dated and boring. With horrible plastic inside. gm still does not get things right

Johnathan you may not have perfect English but you express perfectly what is going on.

The other brands are established and complete while Cadillac is rebuilding and recovering.

To do this they need to play to their strengths and build up their image and acceptance and then move into the lesser selling segment as time goes on.

BMW built itself not on a high end sedan. It was built on a 3 series car that lead to the higher end cars being accepted. The 3 was a foundation the company was built upon.

Audi was built first on the 5000 till the set back and then they moved to the A3-A4 models to build their foundation and really made a lot of ground up on the other Germans with their line of SUV models.

As for the ATS, CTS and CT6 you can not really judge Cadillac’s future on these models. These are not products of the present management and really were the work of several teams as GM had a revolving door of GM insiders in and out over the last 10 year. We have yet to see the first full product of the JDN era and it will be a little more time as you can not make a new model over in 2 years, We will see some refreshed models and a host of planned Crossovers that will be updated with some JDN ideas first.

The truth is you can not pass judgment on JDN and the future Cadillac at this point as you have nothing to measure them by. Will all his ideas work? No one knows as we have yet to see any of his and his staffs work.

It is because of what we have now in the ATS, CTS and CT6 we have him here. Mark Ruess knows that their cars today are much better than they have had but they are still not enough. If GM felt these cars were good enough would they have hired JDN and given him $12 Billion dollars?

Many here need to take good stiff drink and let this play out and just see what we get. Granted their is still a risk of failure but on the other hand the odds are greater they will continue to improve and we will get products you never could conceive GM and Cadillac offering in segments they have not competed successfully in for decades.

The bottom line let them do their work and judge them on what they do come up with and not what they inherited.

Also some of you need to take a look and consider the product the market wants not the cars you think they want. To be successful they need to build the vehicles people will buy not just the ones they say they want.

You may not be thrilled with the XT5 but it is going to sell very well and make a lot of money. That is the whole point of Cadillac being in business isn’t it?

The bottom line on a flagship is this. While it would be nice to have it is not the foundation of the company profit wise or sales wise. The cars most buy will establish the brand in the minds of many. You get the basic models right and people will then spend the coin to buy the higher priced models later on.

Even BMW and Benz are not paying the light bill with their top cars.

Might note too if there is a segment where GM can take a lead the SUV and Crossover segment is prime. The Germans may make them but their models are not always the best. It is their soft underbelly.

There is no “real” proof the ct8 is dead. You got that from autoline which put that out the week Johan was going to be interviewed by them and they probably did that to get more people to watch the interview. During the interview they didn’t even ask about it. It just seems strange that they wouldn’t ask about it so until I see real proof I’m not buying it.
Instead of cancelled the ct8 could just be pushed back so Johan can have full say over the development from the ground up.
On the other hand if it really is dead Cadillac could also be just making an extended ct6 w/ or a 2+2 executive opinion. This makes sense because the escalade and escalade esv are like that or what Mercedes does in other countries s sedan and s sedan extended ( the us only gets the extended model).Builds the model name that way and is less confusing. Plus Bmw and Mercedes have 3 main sedans( the 4 and 6 coupe don count) i.e. C class, e class, S class. 3 series, 5 series, 7 series . So Cadillac could be planning ct2 ct 4 ct6.

Don, what you’re saying, I totally agree with. Well said! I’m convinced that Autoline put that story out in order to get more viewers for that interview. The super ODD thing about that interview is why did they not ask the million dollar question everyone wanted to know the answer to? Honestly, it’s the only reason I watched the interview and I was greatly disappointed when it didn’t even come up. I think, at most, the CT8 is delayed and it’s development rollout was taken by another CUV. That car WILL come out. Cadillac isn’t abandoning CT8.

Alex, People need facts not so called facts from sources. Sources can be good but can also be bad. One tweet from a auto insider unit is not proof the car is cancelled. Sure it absolutely could be dead, but without this info coming DiRECTLY from GM, how can anyone take any of this seriously?. I don’t think its fair calling us “talking heads” when as far as anyone on here is concerned, GM Authority is a talking head with unconfirmed and speculative hearsay. Just my two cents for what its worth.

the sedan market is shrinking and the CUV/SUV market is growing….over time….during the next 8-10 years the sedan segment will become weaker and its market will become smaller as more CUV/SUVs will come and CUVs don’t have to be fat and ugly….it would make more sense to replace the sedans with CUV/Wagons in the future and Cadillac might be saving the CT8 for a large CUV/Wagon instead of a sedan….the CT6 may remain the flagship till the omega platform has fully made it run…in say 2023-2025 and Cadillac would have developed a replacement for the Omega platform that is more advanced and lighter weight and than have the CT6 and CT8 as lighter weight more advanced CUV/Wagons.

1. The Omega is already light weight and advanced. It’s the most advanced full-size platform on the market.
2. Cadillac CUVs are coming. There will be a lot of them.
3. Despite the significant increase in the popularity of crossovers, there is still a killing to be made (and sold) in sedans and sedan-derived coupes. It’s a 50-50 or 60-40 split crossovers to sedans. Let’s not lose sight of a balanced line-up.

Cross-overs are the big thing as people want a CUV over a sedan which means Cadillac needs to put resources into building new CUVs and not sedans especially with sagging CTS sales; Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen said there would be 11 new vehicles in the next 5 years which means a handful will be replacement of existing models (ATS, CTS, XTS) and some being CUVs as there should be room for flagship whether it’s a super-sedan like the Maybach or production version of the Elmiraj or Ciel.